Comments: To Kill a Mockingbird was very heavily fictionalized account of Harper Lee’s real lawyer and journalist father. It was written and rewritten to suit the left-wing New York literary tastes of the times.
In reality Harper Lee’s lawyer father was assigned the defense a black father and son who were tried, found guilty and executed(hanged) by the state of Alabama for the murder of a store owner. I could not find evidence of a lynching but there was the possibility of post execution mutilation of the bodies. This caused a great strain on the Lee family with Harper Lee’s mother having mental health problems for the rest of her life. She died when Harper Lee was 25.
Harper Lee’s father left the law and became a small time Journalist. In the later matter of a rape case, where the evidence was conflicted, and both the black rapist , an ex-con, and the white victim were believed to have serious mental health and cognitive issues, Mr Lee argued that capital punishment was too harsh a penalty for the crime. His argument carried the day. There was no serious threat of lynching.
Harper Lee had a interesting and at times courageous father. He was not a saint or a staunch champion of southern blacks. He seems to have been a realist and not a Hollywood left-wing icon by any means.
Harper Lee went on to be of great help to Truman Capote in developing In Cold Blood the first landmark true crime novel. That is her true literary legacy IMHO.
Perhaps Harper Lee became a famous recluse because deep down inside she feels she sold out her convictions and wished To Kill a Mockingbird was more factual.
